DILLON, Mont. – The No. 22 ranked Battlin' Bears were unable to slip past the No. 4 ranked Montana Western Bulldogs in a 73-63 defeat.
Despite a 29 point performance by the Frontier Conference scoring leader, Brianna King, the Battlin' Bears (12-5, 3-2 FC) kept pace with the Bulldogs (13-1, 4-1 FC) for the majority of the game. The Bulldogs led by just a single point, 48-47, at the beginning of the fourth period. The final period saw the Battlin' Bears outscored 25-16.
The Battlin' Bears shot 44.4 percent from the floor, but drained only 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. Montana Western finished the night shooting a 48.2% field goal percentage and 42.1 percent on three pointers.
Three Battlin' Bears posted double digits on the night. The pair of
Kloie Thatcher and
Markaela Francis both scored 15 points while
Antuanisha Wright provided an additional 10 points.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Battlin' Bears 34-27. Rocky was led by Francis who pulled in six boards. Wright grabbed an additional five.
King has scored 20 or more points in 10 of Western's 14 games this year.
Rocky will stay on the road to play Lewis-Clark in Lewiston, Idaho on Saturday. That game will take place at 3 p.m.
